James Eugene "Jamie" Tittle II

LOUISVILLE - James "Jamie" Eugene Tittle II, playful madcap and bon vivant, passed away at age 41 on Wed, June 19 at University Hospital. He is survived by his parents, James E. "Jim" Tittle and Alice H. Tittle; his younger brother Kirkby and sister-in-law Stephanie; and his fiancée Merrill Simmons. Considered a modern "renaissance man" by colleagues, friends, and family, his genuine curiosity for all that life has to offer is reflected in the wide breadth of accomplishments performed in his short life: a graduate from Central High School in 1984, he went on to take his Bachelor and then Master of Science in Biology from the University of Kentucky. He was a founding member of the student-run radio station WRFL and was a central figure in the independent music scenes of both Lexington and Louisville as a songwriter, bass player, and media artist. As a proponent of PureData technology (free software and media files for use by digital artists and developers), he was a speaker at the MacWorld 2005 conference; the Piksel Festival, for artists and developers working with Free/Libre and Open Source audiovisual software and art; and other conferences that took him to Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands. As a digital artist he was represented by Swanson Reed Contemporary Gallery; presented real-time manipulated "video seethings" as a compliment to the instrumental rock band Parlour's live shows; was Video Engineer for "The Second Death of Priscilla" by Russell Davis, which appeared in the 2003 Humana Festival of Plays; and, finally, worked as a developer for the ArtSparks Interactive Gallery at the Speed Art Museum. He was office manager in his family's medical supply business and a freelance Macintosh network consultant and programmer. Jamie will be remembered by friends and family as the first to know what would be the next "in" thing; as a lover of literature, particularly in the genres of speculative fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction science, philosophy, and nature writing; a bird watcher, cat lover, and aficionado of river otters. Ecce Homo: deeply loved son, cherished and adulated big brother, and sweet soulmate to Merrill. "Nature does not know extinction; only transformation." Visitation will be from 12-2pm followed by a Memorial Service at Calvary Episcopal Church, 821 South Fourth Street on Mon, June 25. Private inurnment will occur at Cave Hill Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts should be made in Jamie's name to any of the following organizations: www.caringbridge.org/donate, or 1995 Rahn Cliff Court, Suite 200, Eagan MN 55122; Squallis Puppeteers, P.O. Box 4987, Louisville KY 40204; and Sarabande Books, 2234 Dundee Road, Suite 200, Louisville KY 40205